Uni fees debate like Big Brother episode: Barnaby

QUEENSLAND Senator Barnaby Joyce has likened a proposal that will give students the vote on whether to abolish compulsory campus fees to an episode of Big Brother.

Federal Education Minister Dr Brendan Nelson has announced the referendum as a way to appease senators who currently oppose the voluntary student unionism legislation because of the effect it will have on student services, particularly in regional areas.

But Senator Joyce has called the proposal peculiar because it would give students the opportunity to vote out something that would affect future graduates.

"What else is going to be voted out of the uni?" Senator Joyce asked. "People who don't have kids could vote that child-minding be taken away, then anyone with a kid can't go to uni. "I don't use the geology department so I could be selfish and vote to get rid of geology," he said.

"It's turning the uni into Big Brother."

Senator Joyce said the Government was pursuing an ideological agenda rather than listening to the senators, university staff and students who have warned that services and facilities currently funded by compulsory student union fees would be lost unless some sort of amenities fee was put in place.

"There are absolute zealots in the Liberal Party who believe this is a stand for the future," Senator Joyce told The Chronicle yesterday. "Back at uni all the Lefts and Rights were having this big fight and today they have a big chip on their shoulder.

"They just want to win," he said.

Senator Joyce said the VSU legislation should be renamed the "Let's Make USQ Second Rate" or the " Let's Get Rid of Regional Universities Bill" for the effect abolishing compulsory union fees without replacement would have on small universities.

Since his election, Senator Joyce has been steadfast in supporting regional universities like USQ which relied heavily on student fees to maintain campus facilities because he believed unis should be more than just books and studying.

University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Student Guild deputy general manager Trevor Watts said Dr Nelson's referendum raised many questions as to the fairness of today's students making the definitive vote on something that would affect future generations.

"The question is: who's going to vote, the current students or the ones coming in?" Mr Watts said.

"What about the students next year?" he said.

"It's like asking a 15-year-old if tax is a good idea."

Mr Watts said governments were expected to make decisions on what was good for society and not ? defer it to others.

"What are they going to do next? Let newspapers vote on media laws and unions vote on IR?" he said.

Mr Watts said he was positive Barnaby Joyce would not support the Government's Bill unless the amendment he sought was added.